Tag: Compass »

WOTA: U-Boat Compass is a 3D simulation of a naval gyrocompass created by Mark Hessburg, in cooperation with the Technical Museum U 995 of the German Naval Association. The compass is based off those used in German submarines during World War II. The app is a spin-off of WOTA: Wolves of the Atlantic, a submarine simulation coming out this year.

You'll be able to explore the compass as well as the U 995’s command room in a high resolution 360° panorama. The color of the compass can be adjusted between black, gray, brass or transparent and will give you accurate readings on latitude and longitude, speedometer, rate of Turn, and more. Just make sure you have your built-in GPS or Wi-Fi network connection turned on.

You can download a copy of WOTA: U-Boat Compass for $0.99 on the App Store.

HomeSnap is a rather creepy real-estate app that allows users to discover information about houses it takes pictures of (what it’s worth, number of rooms, heating, etc).

The app uses location and probably compass data to figure out which house the user is looking at and has the user take a picture. The picture likely doesn’t aid in the function of the app. It’s probably just a reminder for the user. Once the app figures out what house is in question, the user is supplied with information like worth, school district, similar homes, prices of other homes in the neighborhood, and more.

HomeSnap gets its seemingly private information from the MLS (Multiple Listing Service), a service used by real-estate brokers. It now feels a little less creepy to know where the app gets its information. But the kind of information this app can retrieve just from compass and location data is still quite amazing.

Know those corny signs that are up in just about any tourist-heavy area which show people which direction and how far another tourist-heavy attraction/city/state is? Something like an arrow sticking out of the ground in Maine, pointing West and proudly displaying "Hollywood: 'X' miles." Well Direction Known does something similar, only with customizable lists of things to point at and a readout that updates and syncs in real-time as the user moves around.

As someone living in a major metropolitan center, I can't exactly walk a straight line to wherever it is I need to go. However, anyone who's ever tried navigating anywhere on foot ever knows that even having a general idea of where their destination is can be a huge help. Of course, there's also the option to use the device's built-in GPS to check the map.

Direction Known does have plenty of practical uses, including finding a friend at the park, trying to figure out which direction to start walking in after getting off the subway or finding one's way out of the wilderness (if there's a signal). It also has some non-practical uses, like showing the kids how much farther until they reach grandma and grandpa's house or letting said grandparents watch their family getting closer. It can also be used for purely nostalgic purposes, such as having an arrow that always points to one's childhood home. Locations can be saved in separate groups, keeping things from getting too cluttered and giving users more control over what they're trying to find.

Upon first glance, Direction Known might look like nothing more than a colorful compass, but it can be much more than that. It can be incredibly helpful in the right situation, and it can illicit a nostalgic smile in others. Ultimately it's up to the individual user to decide. Regardless of how it's used, it's available in the App Store right now.